In April 2019, Christine did what she did every year—she went to Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre for her annual mammogram. She felt perfectly fine, no unusual symptoms.
The next day, Christine received a phone call asking her to return for an ultrasound. Her mammogram had shown something unusual. Although she did not feel anything, a small tumour had been spotted on her scan. Christine returned for her ultrasound and from there her treatment progressed very quickly. That same day, the radiologist showed Christine exactly where the tumour was, performed a biopsy, tagged the tumor and sent the sample off for testing.
One week later, Christine met with Dr. Rhonda Janzen, a surgeon at the Breast Health Clinic. She remembers the conversation clearly. “I have good news and bad news for you,” Dr. Janzen said. “The bad news is that it’s cancer. The good news is that it’s really small, and I can take it out.” What amazed Christine the most was how quickly everything happened. On Monday, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and by the following Friday, she was having surgery to remove the tumour. “It was so fast,” Christine recalls. “From the time I found out until the time I had surgery was just two weeks.” Although the surgery was successful and Dr. Janzen was able to remove the tumour from her breast, Christine also had cancer in one of her lymph nodes. Moving quickly before this tumour could spread, she was referred to BC Cancer at Surrey Memorial Hospital where she received chemotherapy. Three months later, Christine was declared cancer-free.
Early detection is key to improving outcomes in breast cancer. Now five years cancer free, Christine faithfully goes for her yearly diagnostic mammogram. Quick treatment is also critical. The Breast Health Clinic at Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre is designed to provide efficient treatment, in part thanks to generous donor support.
About the Breast Health Clinic
The Breast Health Clinic at Surrey’s Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre is equipped with state-of-art technology that has been funded by community donations, including a transformational $1.3 million dollar gift from the Ritchie family for the purchase of a specialized, super-high powered, surgical microscope, and a Tomosynthesis, or “3D mammography”, which is a new type of digital x-ray mammogram that creates 2D and 3D-like pictures of the breasts. This piece of equipment improves the ability to detect early breast cancers, which in turn, decreases the number of women being called back for additional tests.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. To book your annual mammogram at Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre, call 604-582-4592.
